Shell
by forbiddentransmutations
Summary: Al's inability to feel not only pains him, but his brother too. This is revealed on a rather confiding night. Elricest drabble one-shot.


Title: Shell

Author: Forbiddentransmutations

Pairing: Elricest

A/N: Just a little drabble of the Elrics..hope you like.

Alphonse had been in his shell for 4 years now. It had been 4 years since his older brother sacrificed his right arm to bond his soul to the suit of armour he took life in. It had been extremely frustrating on so many levels. One of the biggest frustrations was the fact that he could no longer feel the touch of his oldest brother against him. He could not feel his heart pound against his equally paced heartbeat. No more would they both feel as their hands entwined, and no more would either feel the comforting touch of lips on lips. While Al was in the cold, metallic suit of armour, he would never be able to feel his brother. The hope that he would regain his body slowly diminished as the years went by, their quest for the Philosopher's Stone becoming more and more futile.

This left heavy strain on the Elrics, who not only had to fight for others, but for each other. They had to keep their love for each other strong, or else everything would fall apart. The thing that motivated them both the most was the fact that one day...maybe one day, they could feel each other again, like the times before the human transmutation. They longed to touch bodies again, warm skin against warm skin, as their bodies reacted to certain touches. Alphonse longed for that to happen again, and the more time he spent in the armour, the more desperate he became.

It had been a long, yet rather quiet day at Central HQ. No major events had happened, and most of the Elrics' time was spent down at the market or in their room. Winry was expected to be arriving the next day, and the brothers decided to rest up before her arrival. Ed could, in the very least, not break his automail.  
The day had quickly passed, and the early evening came and went before everyone knew, and the brothers were laying in bed that late, late night, pondering. Neither could sleep. Well, Al couldn't sleep even if he tried, but Ed was wide awake. It was unusually silent, as the brothers usually had much to talk about.

"Brother? Are you okay?"  
Al broke the silence, feeling quite concerned for his brother. Ed shifted in his bed, turning towards the window. "Yeah...I'm fine."  
Al looked towards his brother, whose figure was barely visible under the beam of the moonlight. He didn't know how to further the conversation. "I think I found some leads to getting your body back to normal," Al began to explain. Ed sighed. "Really? What?" He spoke absent-mindedly, trailing off. Al wanted to continue, but lost the motivation to.

There was another silence. Al heard the shuffling of some blankets and movement of a body and automail, before the silence returned once again. He looked down at his own body, angry at himself for being so reckless in his words. He couldn't just go bringing up such subjects so freely. It was an important subject, and usually a sensitive one.

"We're going to get your body back, Al," Ed suddenly said, voice shaky. Al looked over to his brother. More silence. After a moment the room was filled with unsteady breathing and sniffles. It took Al a minute to realize that Ed was, in fact, crying. It wasn't exactly abnormal, but it wasn't a sight Al was always used to seeing, especially at night before sleep. He had seen Ed do plenty of things during the night, due to his inability to sleep; but he rarely did he see, or at least hear, him cry. He was definitely crying, as Al heard Ed choking on his breath and whining quietly to himself.

With that, Al stood up, his metal body clanking loudly. Surely, it would have been enough to ruin the mood. Much to Al's surprise, Ed was still crying. He was probably used to the loud thumping of the armour. Al walked as quietly as he could over to his brother, standing right over him. As gently as he could, he ran his hand through Ed's golden locks, only wishing he could feel what they were  
like. Ed turned his head a little, seeing Al looking down at him.

"Please try and get some sleep, Brother," Al said in an assuring tone, wiping away a tear that rolled down the older boy's cheek. Ed sniffled once more, before uttering a smile. "Okay, I will," he simply replied, rolling back over to relax. A few more tears escaped him, but at least he wasn't sobbing. He knew Al was there for him, and he could certainly feel that HE was there, even if it was a clunk of metal instead of his warm flesh.  
Al sat in the corner for the rest of the night, watching as Ed tossed and turned from a bad dream. At least he was human enough to sleep and dream.


End file.
